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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Gain local low-privilege access
  2. Delivery
    Identify PKCS#11 token without protected auth path
  3. Exploit
    Call gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin with NULL old PIN
  4. Execution
    Trigger use-after-free dereference
  5. Impact
    Crash process or corrupt heap memory

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Expired pointer prevention
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires: (1) Local system access with at least a low-privileged user account (PR:L per CVSS), ruling out remote unauthenticated exploitation. (2) A PKCS#11 token must be present and accessible to the user that does NOT implement a protected authentication path - tokens with hardware PIN pads or equivalent mechanisms are not vulnerable to this specific code path. (3) The attacker must be able to invoke gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin with a NULL old PIN, either directly or via an application that exposes this operation. Limiting factors: the local-only attack vector eliminates all network-based attack paths; protected-authentication-path tokens are immune; and environments where PIN management is restricted to privileged accounts shrink the exploitable surface substantially.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 score of 6.6 (Medium) with vector AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H accurately reflects the attack surface: local access with low privileges is required, which materially constrains real-world exploitability. The primary impact is high availability loss (A:H), consistent with a use-after-free that causes process crashes, with secondary low confidentiality and integrity impacts that could arise from memory state leakage or partial corruption. No EPSS data was provided in the intelligence feed, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified statistically. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, and no public proof-of-concept exploit has been identified, both of which reduce urgency relative to actively exploited flaws. However, the combination of low complexity (AC:L) and low privilege (PR:L) means any local user on an affected system with PKCS#11 token infrastructure could reliably trigger the crash without specialized knowledge. Environments running HSMs, smart card authentication, or PKCS#11-backed certificate stores on RHEL or OpenShift should treat this as a medium-priority patch item. The local-only attack vector is the primary limiting factor - network-exposed systems are not directly at risk unless an attacker already has local code execution.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

A local attacker with a standard user account on an RHEL or OpenShift node that has a PKCS#11 token configured without hardware PIN entry (protected authentication path) calls gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin with a NULL old PIN value. The function dereferences the freed or invalid pointer, triggering a process crash and denial of service for the calling application - which may include security-critical services such as certificate management daemons or TLS-terminating processes. In a worst-case scenario, an attacker with knowledge of heap layout could attempt to leverage the use-after-free for controlled memory corruption and escalate to arbitrary code execution within the process context.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Why: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9).
Patch available 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Jun 16, 2026

Use-after-free memory corruption in GnuTLS's PKCS#11 PIN management function gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin enables a local low-privileged attacker to crash the process and potentially corrupt memory on systems where PKCS#11 tokens are deployed without a protected authentication path. Affected deployments span Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 through 10, Red Hat Hardened Images, and Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, as confirmed by Red Hat (reporter) and covered under GnuTLS upstream advisory GNUTLS-SA-2026-04-29-9. No public exploit code has been identified at time of analysis, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

RemediationAI

Apply the available Red Hat security advisories: RHSA-2026:20611, RHSA-2026:20612, and RHSA-2026:20613, accessible at https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20611, https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20612, and https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20613 respectively. These advisories cover the affected RHEL and OpenShift product lines. For upstream GnuTLS, monitor https://www.gnutls.org/security-new.html#GNUTLS-SA-2026-04-29-9 for a patched release version, which is not independently confirmed from current reference data. If immediate patching is not feasible, the most actionable compensating controls are: restrict local user access to processes that invoke PKCS#11 token management operations (e.g., via SELinux policy or process privilege separation); use only PKCS#11 tokens that implement a protected authentication path (hardware PIN entry), as the vulnerability is not triggered in that configuration; and audit which local users have access to PKCS#11 token management interfaces and reduce that access surface. Note that restricting PKCS#11 access may impact smart card login, certificate operations, and HSM-backed key management workflows.

Affected VersionsENISA

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10 patch: 0:3.8.10-4.el10_2
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 patch: 0:3.6.16-8.el8_10.6
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 patch: 0:3.8.10-4.el9_8

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

GnuTLS is a widely deployed open-source TLS/SSL/DTLS cryptographic library used across the Red Hat ecosystem including RHEL 6-10, Hardened Images, and OpenShift Container Platform 4 (CPE strings confirm all these product lines). PKCS#11 is the OASIS standard interface for interacting with cryptographic hardware tokens such as HSMs and smart cards. The Security Officer (SO) PIN is a privileged credential used in PKCS#11 to administer token state, separate from the standard user PIN. The function gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin handles SO PIN changes but contains a logic flaw when the caller supplies a NULL value for the old PIN on a token that does not implement a protected authentication path (i.e., a token that relies on software-supplied PINs rather than hardware PIN entry). Under this condition, the function dereferences a pointer to memory that has already been freed or is otherwise invalid. CWE-825 (Expired Pointer Dereference) is the root cause class - a variant of use-after-free where a dangling or freed pointer is read or written, leading to undefined behavior including crashes, memory disclosure, or controlled memory writes.

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  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Vendor (redhat) PRIMARY 6.6 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
vuln.today AI 6.6 MEDIUM

Local attack vector with low-privilege requirement reflects PKCS#11 token access; use-after-free drives A:H with limited memory leakage (C:L/I:L); no scope change as impact is process-contained.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:L/VI:L/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Ubuntu MEDIUM
SUSE 4.0 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Red Hat MEDIUM

Primary rating from Vendor (redhat).

CVSS VectorVendor: redhat

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

A flaw was found in GnuTLS. The gnutls_pkcs11_token_set_pin function, used for changing the Security Officer PIN, can lead to a use-after-free vulnerability. This occurs when an attacker attempts to change the PIN with a NULL old PIN for a token that lacks a protected authentication path.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 92% exploitable
Social Media
1
Sightings
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue
Severity MEDIUM
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available Yes
Active threat No
Deciding rule
MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact· derived
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

33
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +33
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.

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Vendor StatusVendor

Ubuntu

Priority: Medium
gnutls28
Release Status Version
xenial needs-triage -
bionic needs-triage -
focal needs-triage -
upstream released 3.8.13
jammy released 3.7.3-4ubuntu1.9
noble released 3.8.3-1.1ubuntu3.6
questing released 3.8.9-3ubuntu2.2
resolute released 3.8.12-2ubuntu1.1

Debian

Bug #1135319
gnutls28
Release Status Fixed Version Urgency
bullseye fixed 3.7.1-5+deb11u10 -
bullseye (security) fixed 3.7.1-5+deb11u10 -
bookworm fixed 3.7.9-2+deb12u7 -
bookworm (security) fixed 3.7.9-2+deb12u7 -
trixie fixed 3.8.9-3+deb13u4 -
trixie (security) fixed 3.8.9-3+deb13u4 -
forky, sid fixed 3.8.13-1 -
(unstable) fixed 3.8.13-1 -

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
Container suse/manager/5.0/x86_64/server:5.0.8.7.44.2 Image SLES15-SP6 Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP6-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP6-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP6-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP6-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-HPC-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAP Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP6-SAPCAL-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP7-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-EC2-ECS-HVM Image SLES15-SP7-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAP-Hardened-GCE Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP7-SAPCAL-GCE Affected
Image SL-Micro-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SL-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SL-Micro-Base Image SL-Micro-Base-RT Image SL-Micro-Base-RT-SelfInstall Image SL-Micro-Base-RT-encrypted Image SL-Micro-Base-SelfInstall Image SL-Micro-Base-encrypted Image SL-Micro-Base-qcow Image SL-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro Image SLE-Micro-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SLE-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-ltd Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-ltd Affected
Image SLES-Azure-3P Image SLES-Azure-Basic Image SLES-Azure-Standard Image SLES-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-EC2 Image SLES-EC2-ECS Image SLES-GCE Image SLES-GCE-3P Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES-SAPCAL-GCE Affected
Image SLES-SAP-Azure Image SLES-SAP-Azure-3P Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-Azure Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES-SAP-BYOS-GCE Image SLES-SAP-EC2 Image SLES-SAP-GCE Image SLES-SAP-GCE-3P Affected
Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-HPC-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-SAP Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-SAP-GCE Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP4-SAPCAL-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-3P Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-Basic Image SLES15-SP5-Azure-Standard Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Aliyun Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-GDC Image SLES15-SP5-CHOST-BYOS-SAP-CCloud Image SLES15-SP5-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-HPC-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-Hardened-BYOS-GCE Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-Azure Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-EC2 Image SLES15-SP5-SAPCAL-GCE Affected

References

Advisories & patches
ADVISORY https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20611 ADVISORY https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20612 ADVISORY https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:20613 ADVISORY https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42014 ADVISORY https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/dla-4595-1 ADVISORY https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/dsa-6281-1 ADVISORY https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-8284-1 ADVISORY https://vuldb.com/vuln/365881 ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:2087/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:2115/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:21752/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:21784/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:21815/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:21867/ REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:13274 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26319 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:26409 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:29197 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30004 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30849 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:30850 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:32962 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33125 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:41921 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:43575 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:58981 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:72502 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:74674 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82304 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82322 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82347 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82354 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82372 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82857 REF https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:82888 REF https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-42014 REF https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2467451 REF https://gitlab.com/gnutls/gnutls/-/issues/1766 REF https://www.gnutls.org/security-new.html#GNUTLS-SA-2026-04-29-9

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